


The Real Beginning of the End

by InsaneNerdGirl



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Coulvary - Freeform, F/M, Gen, I Don't Even Know, Mayson - Freeform, Philinda - Freeform, also i can't do titles, i apparently like killing off my favorite character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 21:48:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1618211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneNerdGirl/pseuds/InsaneNerdGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if that nail gun hadn't been where it was during the May/Ward fight?</p><p>Agents of SHIELD one-shot</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Real Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> So here's my second fanfic. Please forgive any typos as this was written at 5:00am when i'm sick and have had no sleep yet tonight. And using a broken keyboard to boot.  
> Also i am horrible at titles, so if there's an obvious good one PLEASE tell me and i'll change it!
> 
> Please leave comments/kudos and tell me how i did.

May let out a yell as Ward kicked her with all his strength, the force of the yell helping her body absorb the blow; just not enough. Her ears were ringing and every inch of her hurt from being thrown through the wall; she couldn’t drag herself to her feet fast enough to avoid another blow.  
She let out a groan as she lay on the floor, desperately scrabbling for anything that could give her the edge she so desperately needed. All there was was a locked toolbox, too far away from her to offer any help. She rolled over and managed to block his next kick, and let out a scream when she felt the bones of her forearm crack.  
His next kick was aimed at her head, and was too fast for her to block. She spit blood out from between her teeth and glared. And then another kick came and blackness crashed over her. Her last thought was regret that she’d been unable to protect her team.

“We’ll find Agent May and then we’ll all get out of here.” Skye told the little boy she was carrying safely in her arms. Ace could walk on his own, but Skye sure as hell wasn’t going to let this child out of her arms until she could safely deliver him to Mike or his Aunt Mindy. “All we have to do is follow the path of destruction.” She said, half amused.  
She stepped over a pile of boards and plaster. “What a mess!” she exclaimed, and then stopped mid-thought, a dark fear entering her mind. “No…” she whispered, setting Ace down. “Ace… stay here. Stay here and don’t look around.” She told the small boy, hardly noticing his nod before moving towards the hole in the opposite wall and what she hoped she wasn’t really seeing.  
There was no mistaking the body before her; black hair obscuring her face, and her head at an impossible angle. “No…” she whispered again, sinking down beside the body. “May… no…”  
She brushed her hair out of her face, hoping against hope that May was just knocked out… that the angle of her neck wasn’t as impossible as it looked… but she knew Ward was too thorough for that.  
Her eyes burned and she took a deep shuddering breath, fingers searching for a pulse she knew couldn’t be there. “May, Please! Don’t be dead… don’t be gone.” She brushed her trembling fingers through her hair. “May please… please don’t be gone!”  
Tears fell onto May’s cheeks and for an instant Skye’s heart quickened with an irrational hope, but the tears were her own. She gathered May’s body in her arms and buried her face in her hair, shoulders shaking as she began to sob. “Please May… don’t be gone!” she whispered. “W-we were going t-to train together. Remember May? Five o’clock AM for 'hate-fu' training. You said so. Y-you can’t go back on your word. You have to train me. Stop doing this. Wake up and…” another sob was ripped from her throat. “Please…” she whispered again, as if her pleas could change anything.  
“Skye?” the childish voice broke in through her useless pleading. She felt a tiny hand on her shoulder. Ace. She needed to get him back to his family. May wouldn’t have wasted time on grief. She would have swallowed it down and done what needed to be done.  
With another half-sob she lay May back onto the floor and gently closed her eyes, then folded her hands over her chest. This would do until they could come back for her.  
“Let’s go Ace,” she said, smiling as best as she could, wiping away her tears. He was staring at May, his eyes wide. “What’s happened to her?” he asked, looking up. Skye picked him up again. “She’s sleeping,” she told him. “She had a hard fight, and now she’s resting from it.”

When the proverbial smoke cleared away, the team went back for her. They gently lifted her battered frame onto a stretcher and carried her back to their Bus. Coulson’s face was impassive the entire time, and Trip looked solemn and sad, while Skye was doing her best to fight down the tears that burned into her eyes when she saw the body again. They laid her body on one of the lab tables, then Trip and Skye retreated to the cockpit while Coulson stayed with May. “You do know how to fly this, right?” Skye asked Trip as they settled into their seats. He gave her a small understanding smile. “I’m not as good as Agent May, but I can fly her.”  
Silence fell as Skye closed her eyes and listened to the roar of the engines as the plane took flight. If she tried hard enough she could pretend that it was one of those times when she had entered the cockpit and just sat with May as the clouds flew by beneath them; could pretend that everything was alright in the world.

Coulson hardly noticed when Skye and Trip left. He hardly noticed when the plane started moving. All he could see was Melinda lying before him, beautiful eyes closed forever. There were so many things he had wanted to say to her… so many things he had thought they would do… and now she was gone. And so he stood there, arms crossed in front of him, waiting to wake up from this nightmare.  
He walked closer and stroked her cold face, caressing the bruises the fight with Ward had left behind. And suddenly it all felt real. She really was dead. He had lost his closest friend. He fought back the tears as he gently took one of her hands in his own, lifting it to his lips, his other hand continuing to stroke her hair. He closed his eyes and tried not to imagine the empty void that now filled his future, a void that would have been filled with her presence. “I don’t know if I can do this, Melinda.” he said at last, lowering her hand, but entwining his fingers with hers. “I… I didn’t realize how much I really needed you until you walked away after I was so…” his voice caught and he bowed his head. “…so cruel to you after Fitz found your phone.” He bit his lip, as memories of just how cruel he had been rushed through his mind. “I…I told you I’d never be able to apologize for that enough…” he smiled wanly. “I guess I was right, since I can’t apologize anymore…”  
He took a deep breath and frowned slightly; he wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t. He looked at her face again and ran his hand gently across her brow. “I need you Melinda… so much. I don’t know if I can go on without you. You…” he blinked back tears as he repeated her words from what seemed like years ago, even if it was only days. “You mean a lot to me. No… you mean everything to me. I thought I wanted you on this bus so that I could help you… so that maybe I could find the old you in there somewhere; the You from before Bahrain. I didn’t realize it was because I needed you to help me… through everything.”  
He cupped her face in his hands, and leaned his forehead against hers. He wouldn’t cry. “I don’t know if you knew how much you truly meant to me… how much I needed you… how much you helped me.” He whispered. “I just wish I could have said 'thank you'.”


End file.
